[radiorental]

While true, imho its more complicated than that

* PE, on the whole, has extracted wealth from quality. This is true at both the consumer level and B2B. E.g. its impossible to trust any aftermarket car part manufacturer, and some OEM brands have turned to dogshit too.

* "most people just buy trash at WalMart and Amazon" I'd rephrase that to: most people either can't or are unwilling to pay the premium for quality in an increasingly disposable world.

So, I'd say that similar to post war Japan, while Chinese manufacturing has an image problem, they're just producing what we asked for.

[DangitBobby]

I'm very willing to pay a premium for quality, I just can't seem to find any reliable signal for quality before buying. Price and brand are both increasingly meaningless signals.

[jermaustin1]

I'm in a similar boat, and it annoys the shit out of my wife, and any family member that thinks I'm "just cheap" or a "budget shopper".

I'm a value shopper. I was happy with the McDouble when it was under $1, but not now that it is nearly $2. It isn't worth that, but the BK Double Cheeseburger IS worth it even for $1 more than the McDouble (at least in my location).

Same is true for almost everything I buy. A certain fabric I want in my button ups, or a stich type I want in my pants. I hyper inspect almost every item of clothing I'm even contemplating buying. Same with furniture, with tools, with appliances.

It is almost a compulsion. I cannot pay more for something than I think it is worth... unless I REAALLLLLY want it.

[hylaride]

The lengths "drop-shippers" or similar groups are willing to go to game the system also has made almost all reviews and feedback useless. A few years ago I bought a feline water fountain and the lengths they went to get a 5 star review (extra free filters, etc) made me realize just how bad amazon reviews had gotten. I've slowed my amazon purchases significantly since then (along with other problems ordering from amazon has slowly introduced).

[garethsprice]

The book "The Paradox of Choice" led me to using Wirecutter and Consumer Reports in recent years - if it's not something I care that much about, I will just buy whatever their top recommendation is without second thought. The cost of the subscriptions pays for a human to wade through all the junk and select something that is at least adequate for the job, and is cheap compared to the effective hourly rate of having to search through mountains of junk.

For more niche stuff, Reddit groups like BIFL and seeing what niche hobby groups coalesce around is helpful for me. Which I suppose is the same reversion to word-of-mouth expertise when, as you said, brand and price are degraded signals.

[tremon]

I'm in the same boat. The only signal that I still trust is (for want of a better term) governance longevity, i.e. how long has the company/brand been under its current management structure. This requires some digging, but good salesmen are usually well aware of management changes at their brands. That may not apply to generic clothes shops, but in my experience this still works for tool shops and appliance stores. You'll want to talk to tradespeople though, not sales drones.

Then there's two signals that negatively inform my trust of a brand:

- company size: the larger the company, the lower they start on my trust ladder;

- advertising: when a brand is overly present in the public sphere, that to me signals that they're overcharging for their product.

[slaw]

I buy Xiaomi products. I know I get high quality products. From Xiaomi Kettle to Xiaomi SU7

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiaomi_SU7

[infecto]

I don’t fully agree with either of those arguments. I think parts of it are certainly true but at the end of the day it takes two to tango. American consumers on average want high consumption for the lowest cost. I hate the argument “just buy less $5 coffees” but there is at least a kernel of truth in it. Consumers stretch the limits of their budget.